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Vermicomposting
luvwigglers

accidental vermicomposter

12 years ago

Hi All,
My first post here. I have been composting my old vegetable and fruit scraps, along with dead leaves and grass clippings
for a few years in a three foot high by two feet wide composter outside. I notice lately when turning the compost I have lots of
little 2 inch or so worms. I gather from reading this is a good thing! Are they baby earthworms? Is it okay put banana peels in there? I read some people put mushy bananas but not banana peels. I love those little wigglers hence my forum name.
Thanks.

Comments (6)

  • 12 years ago

    We can't tell for sure from your description, but they are probably composting worms of some variety. Banana peels are fine. The stems won't break down for years, but otherwise they are OK. The worms should be happy with anything you normally put in your compost bin. The only problem you may have is that a compost pile that is generating heat can kill the worms. If that happens, they will escape into the soil below the bin, and/or lay eggs like crazy before they die, ensuring you a fresh population of worms when the pile cools down.

  • 12 years ago

    Thanks sbryce. I know that a big pile of just grass clippings can generate a lot of heat. I've seen steam come off them.
    I'll keep the grass clippings to a minimum.
    Sometime I will take a photo of my worms and post.

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  • 12 years ago

    I give my worms banana peels but I first cut off the end butts as it would take to doomsday for those to be used . I also cut up the peels as small as possible and sometimes run them thru my juicer to get them as small as possible, it helps. I also run all my veggie and fruit peelings thru the juicer.

  • 12 years ago

    Thanks hummersteve. I've been cutting the butt ends off too. I'll try chopping my scraps up in a food processor too.

  • 12 years ago

    Hi luvwigglers. Welcome to the forum, and the world of wormy compost.

    I started aggressively hot composting about the same time I started wormin'. As the piles cooled, worms took over. Each and every pile became populated by wigglers, so I turned them into vermicomposting systems.

    If you want to encourage the worms, then you need to keep adding whatever you have been to the top only, not mixed in This way the worms can easily move down to avoid heat.. Cover the top with lots of browns like leaves or straw. Keep it damp, especially in the summer Treat this like a traditional "cold compost" pile.

    Harvesting the VC without losing your population can be labor intensive.... or not! I like to start a new pile next to the older one and let 'em migrate to the new feed.


    Good luck with your new wormery! Pete

    (BTW no need to pre-process anything going into your system, just toss in those peels, ect.)

  • 12 years ago

    Thanks for the welcome and advice mendopete!

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